I joined the fuselage sides today.  I used my trusty home made jig pieces and one of my benches.  This time I had to notch my bench so F3 with the rounded top would allow the fuselage top to sit flat on my bench.

I begin by cutting triangle notches along the center line of my fuselage BOTTOM view.  This is then taped to the bench making sure the drawing center line is along the center line of my jig.  Then it is covered with wax paper.  Then my jig blocks, carriage bolts, washers and wing nuts are added.  I then align the edge of the jig blocks to the outside edge of the fuselage sides.  I then insert the fuselage sides carefully lining them up to the drawing.  Then I add the bulkheads and I use a small 90 degree triangle to get the bulkheads vertical.  I then adjust the tail post so that it is centered and the fuselage sides are vertical too.  Once everything looks good, I then glued the bulkheads and tail post in with thin CA.  After that I pull the fuselage from the jig and then used medium CA with a thin Teflon tube to double glue the bulkheads.  I then added 1/4 TRI stock to the front of F3 along the fuselage sides.  These were mainly so the cooling air would flow "cleanly" from the intake into the battery compartment.  I'll show picture of that tomorrow.  I also used 30 minute epoxy to glue in the G10 motor mount and the battery mounts to the 1/4 square spruce anchors previously installed.

Before I do anymore work on the fuselage I decided to add some bracing to the aft end so when making the mold for the top and bottom sheeting I don't distort the fuselage.  The bracing is 1/16 x 3/16 #11 balsa added to just the aft section.  The top and bottom bracing runs from different corners to provide great stiffness.  The cost in weight was 1 gram!  The fuselage now weighs 84 grams.

Crist,

Will your battery access be from the bottom or from the side?

Top.

Today I made the forms to mold the top and bottom blocks.

The bulkheads are made from 2.5mm birch plywood and the base from 2 pieces of 1/4 inch ply wood glued with Gorilla glue.  I used the 3M 77 method for the bulkheads and a lot of disc sanding time!

The 1/2 plywood was then trimmed to size using the fuselage as a guide.  I marked the bulkhead locations and used thin CA to glue them to the ply base.  Next up will be the blue foam.

I used some enamel paint on the edges of the bulkheads to act as a sanding guide.

BTW, there are 4 separate forms.  Both top and bottom forms are pushed together when I took the pictures.  They separate at F6.

I sanded down the molds and I am applying several coats of WBP.  Pictures when finished.

I added the motor bay top sheet and the 1/2 cross grain nose today.  When dry, I'll true up the nose and then install the nose ring.  Then the chin block will be trial fit, shaped, and then hollowed.  Then glued on.  By then, maybe the molds will be ready to start molding balsa.

This evening I made up the chin block.  I don't know what density balsa block I used.  Though I suspect it was pretty tough to carve out!  I'll finish sanding the whole nose once the top and bottom sheeting has been molded.

I also added the nose ring.  I used 1 piece of 1/16 ply and 1 piece of 3/32 bass wood.  The bass wood is the part that the spinner will fit up against.  I make the nose rings like this so I can do any final detail sanding for that perfect fit of the spinner.  Ever try sanding birch plywood?

I made the tail wheel mount using 2 layers of 1/16 birch ply.  I then added a 4-40 blind nut for the hold down screw.  The plywood was then glued in using epoxy.  The vertical brace is 3/8 square maple motor mount material which was then epoxied in.  I'll drill the hole for the tail wheel wire tomorrow.

I love the tail hook! Alan and i were using T- pins pushed in backwards to hold yoyo string. He was flying a tomahawk and i was flying my brodak basic trainer one day and experimenting with stooge set-ups. This looks significantly nicer!

I pulled the molded top and bottom sheeting from the molds today.

The top front and bottom front were made from 1/16 7.8# balsa because I wanted some strength up front and also the hatch was going to be made from this molding.

The bottom aft was made from 1/16 5.8# balsa.

The top half was made from 2 pieces of 1/32 5.7# balsa.  This was because of the tight radius at the tailpost and I found out that using 2 pieces of 1/32 glued then molded into a very strong piece.  Before the 1/32 pieces are put on the mold they are soaked in water, then "dried" off using a paper towel, and the first piece gets some watered down Pica Gluit brushed on the entire surface, then the second piece of 1/32 gets put on top of that.  Then they are put on the mold and then wrapped with 4 inch wide bed sheets.  BTW, the mold MUST be covered with waxed paper first.  The glue will seep down to the mold and without the waxed paper, you will glue the balsa to the mold.  Trust me it will happen.  

After drying, the bottom edges are trimmed using a #11 blade attached to the same material as the base and then just run along the side to trim.

I locate the formers by marking their locations on the outside of the fuselage first, then taping the shell in place and transferring the marks to the shell.  Then the marks are extended to the inside.  Then the formers are glued in using thin CA.  Once done, I then "drag" the completed assembly across some sandpaper that is glued to a flat surface to give me a 'true" edge to glue up against the fuselage side.

The angled portion of the exit scoop is made from 1/32 5.7# balsa.

I'm working on the top front pieces this evening.  This will yield the top front portion and the hatch.  More pictures to follow tomorrow.

The weights so far is:
Front bottom - 4 grams
Aft Bottom - 5 grams
Aft Top - 11 grams

Total so far 20 grams.  I'm thinking about 30 grams total which will include the hatch.

My gosh I feel like such a HACK!

Thanks Marcus.

Dennis, keep hacking away! 

Doc, yeah I thought of parchment paper.  Maybe next time.

On to the final details of the fuselage.

Great job Crist !!! Larry L. taught you well 

Thanks Lee.  Larry would be proud, wouldn't he?

Stay warm!

The hatch was next.  It is made from 1/32 ply wood for the base, 1/8 7.8# balsa for the "straight" sides, some bulkheads and the molded sheeting.  After assembling the hatch, I took it to the disc sander to match the angled bulkhead.  See the above post.  Then I added a 1/32 bass wood to both the front and angled bulkheads.  This gives me strength but most of all a nice clean edge for the parting surfaces.  BTW, the aft portion of the bulkhead where the hatch butts up against was treated to the 1/32 bass wood for the same reason.

The the forward 1/16 ply tongue was added along with some 1/4 x 1/8 x 3/8 spruce "locators" were added to the aft end.  The hatch will be held down by 2 super magnets.  1 in the hatch, and 1 in the angled bulkhead.  This worked great on my electric Legacy-40.  R.I.P.

I also added the stabilizer platform.  This was made from 1/8 7.9# cross grain balsa.  2 holes were added.  The aft one matches the hole in the stabilizer bottom sheeting so the air can escape/flow through the stab, especially when touching up the Monokote.  The forward hole will aid when gluing in the stab.

Here are some pictures of the completed fuselage.  From here I cover the wing and stab with Monokote, then begin assembling the plane.  I've been working on this plane for 5 weeks now.

The canopy is just rough cut out and will be final fitted after the fuselage is covered with 2/10 CF veil.

Weight is 149 grams or 5.3 ounces.  9/10 of an ounce under budget.  My guess is it is really 1 ounce under budget because I still have the full bulkheads in the wing cutout and some trimming of the top and bottom sheeting near the tail post.  These will be trimmed during assembly.

Crist, you're going to win a Nobel Prize of some sort for this project. Thanks for taking the effort to document the build with (really sharp) photos and clear written description of the thought process as well as the building process. I have picked up a lot of ideas I want to try. Never too old to learn new tricks! I have an electric China Clipper at about the same stage you are at now, and I want to see how you decide to secure the battery and how to attach the battery hatch. I have used magnets on mine but they may be too powerful for easy removal, we will see.

Crist, you're going to win a Nobel Prize of some sort for this project. Thanks for taking the effort to document the build with (really sharp) photos and clear written description of the thought process as well as the building process. I have picked up a lot of ideas I want to try. Never too old to learn new tricks! I have an electric China Clipper at about the same stage you are at now, and I want to see how you decide to secure the battery and how to attach the battery hatch. I have used magnets on mine but they may be too powerful for easy removal, we will see.

Thanks Mike.  Stay tuned for the magnet install.

Not much done today due to a home project.

I did manage to apply 2 coats of nitrate dope to the motor and battery bays to weather proof them.  I also added 3/10 CF to the lower skin to beef it up some.  Seeing it is below the battery I might have a tendency to put my hand on the bottom when installing a battery.

This has been a lesson on building a competition stunt plane.  I agree about using a stooge if you fly by your self a lot.   But, with electric after landing what happens if some thing in the program goes hay wire?   I'm still an old die hard IC person.

Well Doc, then I would have a problem.  At least with a stooge, I've cut the chances of having a problem by 1/2!

You carry a large screw driver in your pocket and stake the safety thong before you go out.

Crist, can't wait to see how you get the wing in the fuselage.

MM

When I fly over grass that's what I do.  I use a screwdriver to "stake" the handle till I can get to the center of the circle and get ready, then pull the stooge line.  When the flight is over, I "stake" the handle and then walk to the plane, pull the safety plug, and walk the airplane back to the stooge keeping the lines tight.  It helps keep the lines from twisting all up.  Once the plane is hooked up to the stooge, I walk the lines out, untwist them, check the controls, and "stake" the handle for the next flight.

When I fly over a paved circle, I can't "stake" the handle.  Of course I could make a fixture to hold the handle.  But that would mean another piece of equipment to dray out to the circle.  I'll just have to take my chances when flying alone to get to the plane to pull the safety plug after a flight.  Still electric is a lot safer than an IC engine and getting your fingers caught in the prop starting it and adjusting the needle valve!

As promised here are the weights of each piece.  All are ready to cover except the fuselage parts.

Wing - 194 grams
Left Flap - 31 grams
Right Flap - 30 grams
Stabilizer - 37 grams
Left Elevator - 11 grams
Right Elevator - 11 grams
Fin - 13 grams
Rudder 4 grams
Left LG Spat - 4 grams
Right LG Spat - 4 grams
Both LG Covers - 3 grams
Weight Box Cover - 2 grams
Fuselage less Blocks - 106 grams
Fuselage Bottom Front - 5 grams
Fuselage Bottom Aft - 5 grams
Battery Hatch - 10 grams
Fuselage Top Middle - 3 grams
Fuselage Top Aft - 12 grams

Total for everything is - 485 grams or 17.1 ounces as weighed. 

Looks much nicer than the Brodak ARC version.

It must be really cold way up there.  You definitely have a brain freeze!   

I am impressed how light you have built this plane. My new one is a bit of a fatty in comparison.

The wings on mine unbolt off the fuselage and covered weigh 224 and 230g each.

I need to build the next one lighter that's for sure.

Thank you Daniel.  You'll notice that throughout the build, I used a lot heavier wood than the "standard" 5-6# wood.

OK guys, here's your chance on some feedback that I'm asking for.  I'm trying to decide the color scheme for this airplane.  It will be red, white, and blue.

I'll show 2 schemes I'm considering and let me know which one you like the best.  If you don't want to post here, them PM me what you think.

The first picture is what I've used in the past and I call it my traditional scheme.  Many of my airplanes had it and it was well received.

The second picture is of my Legacy 40 from this year in the Air Force Thunderbirds color scheme.  I've used this scheme on my jet models and carried it over to the Legacy 40.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks.

Thanks Keith!

Being a "Jet Guy" I vote for your first scheme. It screams C/L Stunt! The second not so much.....
 
Sorry

Tim